Professor Isaac Otchere appointed co-editor of the Journal of African Business

Dr. Isaac Otchere, Professor of Finance, was recently appointed as co-editor of the Journal of African Business (JAB), the premiere business journal in Africa and the main publication outlet for the International Academy of African Business and Development. Joining Isaac in this task is Dr. Samuel Bonsu, Dean of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

“African business is positioned to lead global economic growth in the next few decades,” said Isaac. “This situation calls for the need to mobilize all necessary and available resources for the effective management of African development. The Journal of African Business can help address this need.”

Established 15 years ago, JAB is published three times a year and covers all disciplines of business.

The pair plans to expand readership and scope of the journal beyond the continent to include scholars from around the globe in the areas of African studies, international development, emerging economies, microfinance, and women in business, among others.

“We recognize that business is not the only avenue to African development,” said Isaac. “Disciplines such as the humanities, political science, governance and international relations can impact business practices. Our objective is to create synergies for our research undertakings.”

Part of this effort will be increasing the diversity of the editorial board to include non-Africans who are doing research about Africa.

Isaac sees the co-editorship of JAB as an opportunity to get involved with issues in the continent that are affecting its development, such as corruption. To this end, they plan to add a section for policy-focused papers, as well as offer critical business perspectives through opinion pieces from influential people.

The pair has also noted a severe lack of African teaching cases. They will dedicate space to the publication of cases on doing business with or about Africa. Cases on entrepreneurship, microfinance and rural financial markets will be encouraged. Isaac hopes these cases will provide examples of business success, as well as failures and what can be learned from these failures.

Isaac joined the Sprott School of Business in 2006 and previously held faculty positions at the University of New Brunswick and the University of Melbourne in Australia. He is an award-winning professor and has been recognized for both teaching and research excellence.

His expertise is in the areas of valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and privatization. He has been published extensively in top finance journals. He recently did consulting work with the World Bank.

Isaac holds a PhD from the University of Tasmania (Australia), an MMS in Finance and MA in Public Administration from Carleton University, and a BSc Administration (Accounting) from the University of Ghana. Isaac is also a Chartered Accountant.